Rob Metanczuk has been waiting for this moment for a long time.
On Dec. 2, his very own Canadian Pacific Railway station, built in the early 1900s at Crystal Springs, Sask., was moved to a location near Saskatoon.
Metanczuk, a Saskatoon developer, has been looking for a station like this one for 20 years.
“They’re very hard to find and getting rarer all the time. The odd one survived and they’ve fixed it up into a house, but sometimes they change the character of it, or else a lot of them just got ripped down for lumber.
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“This is one of the nicest ones I’ve ever found and just the right size that I wanted…. It’s hard to believe, but there was probably one like this in every town up and down the tracks in Western Canada. I would say that in the ’70s most of them disappeared,” he said.
Sawitsky Movers of Wakaw, Sask., picked up the building at Domremy, Sask., where it had been sitting since the 1970s, and moved it 115 kilometres to Metanczuk’s property.
Metanczuk found the station about 10 years ago at the farm of Arthur Turcotte near Domremy. In 1974, Turcotte bought the 1910-20 station and moved it to his farm.
“Over the 10 years we talked about it. He knew I wanted it and we came to an arrangement. I don’t think he wanted to let it go while he was still there, a very nice old man. We developed a friendship. He was one of those older guys that shook hands and said ‘the deal is done, gave you my word,’ and he did.
“He passed away two years ago and his family had told them that he wanted me to have it, so they called me and said it was ready to go.”
Metanczuk has always been interested in old buildings. He has moved and restored several vintage Eatons’ homes.
“These stations have always appealed to me: the overhang, the steep roof. I’ve always wanted to fix one up for a house. I’ll try and keep it as original as I can with all the woodwork,” he said.
